The following article is from the introduction to the book The Wisdom of Wilderness, a book by Gerald G May, with the introduction written by Parker Palmer. I found this piece of "wisdom" to speak to embracing hard places, being in that place and being fully present.
"For Jerry, contemplative psychology takes us 'beyond all coping' to a place where we need not resist the difficult emotions of life but can become one with them, which helps become one with ourselves. Looking back on his early psychiatric practice, he (Gerald/Jerry May) criticized himself for spending too much time helping people 'cope' with their difficulties:
I have come to hate that word, because to cope with something you have to separate yourself from it. You make it your antagonist, your enemy. Like management, coping is a taming word, sometimes even a warfare word. Wild, untamed emotions are full of life-spirit, vibrant with the energy of being. They don't have to be acted out, but neither do they need to be tamed. They are part of our inner wilderness; they can be just what they are. God save me from coping. God help me join, not separate. Help me be with and in, not apart from. Show me the way to savouring, not controlling. Dear God, hear my prayer: make me forever copeless."
Pg XIII/XIV The Wisdom of Wilderness
4 comments:
Hiya,
Brilliant quote - and so much feeds into some stuff God's been up to in me recently - thanks.
Glad this could connect for you too Barb. It sure connects to staying present, and really living in this current space in my life that has held unexpected challenges of illness.
Oh my, I know I was guided here during my own wilderness journey. Thanks.
Jac - may you feel the gentleness of the embrace in your wilderness that your soul needs at this moment.
Shalom
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